Pawn shop owner buys first Gulfstream G650

UPI News Service, 01/24/2013

The owner of a Florida pawn shop said he is now the proud owner of the first Gulfstream G650 private jet off the assembly line.

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Preston Henn, 82, owner of the Swamp Shop in Lauderhill, said he put down a $1 million deposit and received the first available G650, the fastest civilian jet in the sky, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Thursday.

"It's the latest craze in private airplanes," Henn said. "I got the first one in the country."

He said the jet, which can carry up to 18 passengers, arrived Dec. 27 at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. he said he and some friends took an hourlong flight over Florida, but he probably won't be flying in the jet in the future.

"I probably will never fly in it again," he said. "This was strictly an investment."

Henn said he paid $55 million for the plane and leased it back to Gulfstream, which is taking it on a world demonstration tour.

"They're paying me more than it's costing me to finance it," he said. "I'm making money on it."